The Nationals were shocked and upset by manager Jim Riggleman’s sudden resignation after Thursday’s victory over Seattle. But it didn’t take long for the team to find a temporary replacement.

According to Ben Goessling of MASN, bench coach John McLaren has been promoted to the post of interim manager and will skipper his first game Friday night against the White Sox.

McLaren served as manager for the Mariners in parts of 2007 and 2008, posting a 68-88 win-loss record. He was also a player at one time, but his career peaked at the Triple-A level and he hung up his cleats for good at the end of the 1976 season.

Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington has heard from sources that McLaren is only being viewed as a “short-term” option and that another interim manager could be named later this summer. Either way, the 59-year-old takes over a promising 38-37 squad and will do all he can to keep the good times rolling.

Did such a good job that he got canned the next year. And how well can this one really go if they’re giving him an interim-interim-manager tag? “Hey John, want to manage for a couple weeks while we look for someone else to run the team the rest of the year?”